Love Month.

God told them, "I've never quit loving you and never will. 

   Expect love, love, and more love! ~ Jeremiah 31:3 MSG

Valentine's Day. Ever since I was little, every year, my momma has gotten really into it, decorating the entire house and giving me sweet notes and little gifts all month. Her reason: Her mom, my grandma, was always super sweet to her on Valentine's Day, she says.

Every year without fail, she has hosted a tea party for me and my friends on Valentine's Day. We have dainty finger sandwiches and put our pinkies up as we sip our tea from my momma's antique teacups. It's precious. A precious memory for me. To me, Valentine's Day means home. Home. Family. Friends. English breakfast tea. Pink and red. Flowers that arrive at our doorstep every year. 2 dozen roses for my momma and 1 dozen for me, both from my daddy. Tradition.

I love Valentine's Day. 

My friends, however, don't love it so much. "It's depressing." "We're single." "Look at all the cute couples. I'm so pitiful." "I hate Valentine's Day.", they say. I try to tell them, It's a day of LOVE. 

Love for your family.

Love for your friends.

Love for God.

Love for your precious Savior.

Love.

God IS love.

His love is the only love that matters. This Love month, let's celebrate HIS love. It is enough.

Love and Joy,

         Emma 

*Look for more Love Day posts soon. Teehee... I've got some little joys up my sleeve, soon to be shared.

life lately: busy-ness + sleep deprivation

Stressful. If I had one word to describe this past week, that would be it: STRESSFUL. 

Beginning with the fact that it EXTREMELY cold. I get cold really easily, so this becomes a problem for me. And I hate wearing jackets. So this is my solution:

Oh yeah. Emma: Keeping warm, one fire hazard at a time.

Then we come to sleep deprivation part of my week. Musical rehearsals. 

(waiting to be picked up after rehearsal)

I'm in a show at school called All Shook Up. A day in the life of a thespian includes late night rehearsals, which my body is SO not used to. But after two more months of this, I'm sure it will be. 

My teachers decided to slam me with 5+ tests this week. Thanks a lot, guys.

And one of my teachers decided to inflict this pain upon me for being 2 minutes late:

And guess what else is quickly approaching us (much to my discomfort)...

Sadie Hawkins! The shy girl's terror. I have yet ask someone, but I have a dress! And that's all that matters, right? 

(crappy picture, sorry)

But, not all is stressful and negative :)

This book FINALLY came in the mail! Yay! 

I have only just started it, but I will make sure to tell you guys whether it is any good (I'm thinking it will be!). 

This little lovely was picked up at Publix:

Teehee... I love it.

World History gets boring sometimes... So  some doodling occurs:

"All My Fountains" by Chris Tomlin has pretty much been the soundtrack to my week:

And what a great soundtrack it is!


This morning, I picked up my Bible and began to read in Isaiah. LOVE. I just LOVE it. Especially Isaiah 49.

Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands... (says the Lord).

~Isaiah 49:15-16

Go read it for yourself. You won't be disappointed.

Love and Joy, 
     Emma

true beauty in Christ.

I absolutely LOVE this video. So beautiful! 

I've been inspired to memorize Psalm 139. I challenge you to memorize along with me :) 

         

Love and Joy,

   Emma

roots.

Ephesians 3:17-19

 Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rain has always helped me think. So today, when we had storms all day to point of a tornado warning, I was able to think a lot. 

Looking out my window at the trees being tossed around in the harsh wind, I had a really distinct thought. About roots. 


You see, my mom always freaks out when it storms because she is afraid a tree will fall on the house. But even though those trees are tall and old and wobble in the wind seeming like they will fall, they won't. They have strong roots. Roots that have grown deep down into the earth from years of being bathed in sunlight and soaking in the rain. They can hold up better than the little weak trees with short, thin roots. So when storms come, those trees are fine.

When we decide to truly seek out God in our daily lives, our roots begin to develop. They begin to grow deep into the true, fertile soil of Christ. As we study the Word, strive to serve Him and grow closer the Him through prayer, our roots become stronger and we develop into mature, beautiful trees.

People think that after they become a Christian they will have no problems. Or they know that isn't true and think "Well, what reason is there for even pursuing God then if my life will be exactly the same?".

There will still be storms, but your roots will grow and you will become strong in God. And the little weak trees will all come unrooted and fall over and ask "What did I do wrong? Why is that tree still standing and I'm not? It looks exactly the same as me". But it can't see the standing tree's roots, deep in the Soil. That is how it is still standing. When the storm came, it had Something to hold on to. Something that stayed the same and never changed. 

Love and Joy, 

     Emma

living a life of worship.

Lately God has been showing me a lot about worship. About just stepping back from life for a moment to just be. I am learning how to truly be still and know that He is God. 


I am a perfectionist and I think that if I'm not always doing something and doing it perfectly then I'm failing. So I want to do and serve more. And if I fail, I feel like I'm not valuable to God. But He has been telling me, "Emma, just be. I loved you before you even loved me or wanted anything to do with me. So now when you are truly trying, even if you fail, I still love you". 


Last weekend I went to the beach with my best friend. That is where this worship-journey began. One night I walked out onto the deck to be greeted by this:

In that moment my heart cried, "Beautiful, Daddy. Just beautiful. Thank you!". Suddenly I felt tiny and I realized how truly huge and beautiful God is. And when I realized how great He is and how unimportant I am, His love seemed even more amazing. He, being so high and holy, loves me even though I have absolutely nothing to offer him. Wow.

And as I went through the weekend, He pointed out to me all the little things. The way my face feels after I wash it. The color of the sky through my sunglasses. The way my best friend's hair looks in the morning. The way my mom overuses emoticons in her texts. The color of a fresh grapefruit. All the little things He puts in my life that bring me joy. He is so close. He is intimately acquainted with all of my ways. he knows how much I love Him. He notices everything. 

On the way home I thought. I was still and I knew that He is God. As I rode home, I listed the names of my Savior:

He showed me, in His word, who His Son is. And He is beautiful. I listened to "Yes You Have" by Leeland and was captivated by the lyrics:

If I ascend into the sky
Or hide behind the night
I cannot run Your love is chasing me
If I fall into the sea
Your hand will rescue me
No one will take Your place 

In the past two weeks, I've been comforted by Psalm 139, where those lyrics come from. Perfect timing, Father. 

When I got home, my mom began to tell me how God had been working in her life that weekend by showing her the little things. Once again, perfect timing, Daddy. 

He is always there and He sees our hearts. We don't always have to be actively doing. We have to be actively worshipping. 

Worship isn't something you do. It isn't a chunk of time on Sunday morning or Wednesday night when you stand up and sing. It's something you are and something your life should be. Your life, your actions and words, should sing to the King. 

That rhymed... Total accident. 

Love and Joy,

       Emma

Sorry for the long absence, friends. School has gotten the best of me. If I didn't have to go, I wouldn't. But, alas, there is that little law saying I must attend school and everything. Minor details :) But I have a couple videos (one breathtakingly beautiful and one absolutely hilarious) to share with you in the next few days.... Get pumped. I am.

perfect is a lie.

Well, for us it is. Only Jesus is perfect. So why, do we try so hard to be perfect?

We are fearfully and wonderfully made by a perfect God. He doesn't make junk.

In the 6th grade I was 130 pounds. A normal- slightly above average- weight for a young girl in those awkward, puberty-ridden years. But no one was pleased with that. Everyone had something to say about it and those things were horrible. I don't even want to post on here the names they called me.


Since then I have lost weight. I am now at a healthy weight for my age. No one seems to like that either. On Friday, someone asked me if I'm anorexic. I recently heard a rumor about myself that I throw up my lunch everyday. "You're SO skinny!" "Look at your legs!".


YOU WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO PLEASE EVERYONE.


It's just not possible. Everyone will always have something negative to say. The only One we need to try to please is God. And He is pleased in us.

Your beauty is too much for me—I'm in over my head.

I'm not used to this! I can't take it in.

Song of Solomon 6:5

Here are some thoughts to chew on and pray over:


PERFECT IS A LIE,
except for Jesus.
YOU WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO PLEASE EVERYONE,
except for God.


And my favorite:


PERFECTION IS A MOVING TARGET.
It always will become further away. You will never reach it. At least not here on earth. There will always be a prettier, skinnier, more fit, more outgoing, more attention-getting girl out there. But you don't know her problems. Maybe her family is falling apart. Maybe her boyfriend abuses her. Maybe she's pregnant. Maybe she doesn't know Jesus. She isn't perfect. No one is.




But Jesus is. In Him we are made whole. We are made beautiful in Him. One of my favorite songs is Beautiful by Bethany Dillion. Some of the lyrics are:

You make me beautiful.

You make me stand in awe.

You look inside my heart and I am amazed.

I love to hear You say who I am is quite enough.

You make me worthy of love and beautiful.

Love and Joy,
Emma

Faith like a child.

Luke 18:17

The Message (MSG)

 People brought babies to Jesus, hoping he might touch them. When the disciples saw it, they shooed them off. Jesus called them back. "Let these children alone. Don't get between them and me. These children are the kingdom's pride and joy. Mark this: Unless you accept God's kingdom in the simplicity of a child, you'll never get in."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I haven't slept in 24 hours. I've been with the most amazing kids ever praising God and having the most fun I've have in a while. It was my first lock in and it wasn't meant for me but for the middle schoolers. I was just helping out as a leader/teacher. But, oh how they taught me. 

 *sorry for the blurry Instagram

We were all just hanging out for a while, laughing and goofing off, creating inside jokes and memories that will last for a long time to come. Then, we went and worshiped. The set was short but oh so powerful. Then my youth pastor came up and told us to grab our Bibles, find a place in the room, and talk to God. The soft sound of a guitar strumming was the soundtrack to my conversation with God. In that moment He decided to show me how strong He is and how in control He is of every single little thing in my life. I so needed that right then.

We were gathered together in front of the worship stage on our knees in a little mosh pit. "If God showed you something in His word while you were talking to Him, with your eyes closed now in this time just speak up and share it or pray out loud about something He's laid on your heart." 

This is where it got cool. These kids, middle school kids, spoke out with beautiful, totally obscure verses. Some old testament prophesies, some epistles, some gospel. When I was their age my "Bible vocabulary" consisted of some Psalms and John 3:16. And the things they prayed were the most selfless, God-centered requests from Him. It was beautiful. My youth pastor said, I agree that, "Those kids really blessed me tonight. It blessed me to see their growth in Christ.". When I see young teens seeking out God it gets me so excited! Like how one of my best friends recently has gotten out Bible and starting seriously studying and marking it up and that just thrills me!  I texted my mom:

I am so blessed to be able to lead, or even just know, these kids who love Him so much. Seeing their growth and passion for Him inspires me to pray even more for continued growth and passion. 

The whole experience was just amazing and I can't wait to see more of these kids and become more involved in their lives in the future! 

      Love and Joy,

           Emma

renew.

Often we think of new beginnings on January 1, but God is about the business of newness far more frequently the that. God is a God of new things.

~Pure {book} by Rebecca St. James

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It's a new year. Many people take this day to look back on the year behind them or to look forward to the new year ahead of them and make goals for it. I think we should do both. Today I'm looking back on 2011 and how much God has worked in my life in the past year {which has been SOOO much} and I'm looking forward to the year ahead. But, I'm not taking today to make any special goals for myself. We should do that everyday. One thing God has taught me in the past couple weeks is this: He doesn't work in days or years, but in moments and seasons.

  Love and Joy,
       Emma

P.S.
Skiing:

This actually was one of the only pictures I took. I was really busy skiing, okay? gosh.


Just kidding :)